The Mad Room
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Bernard Girard
Stella Stevens
Shelley Winters
Skip Ward
Carol Cole
Severn Darden
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Ellen Hardy is the companion to Mrs. Armstrong, a wealthy widow who lives with her stepson, Sam Aller, and her maid-secretary, Chris, in a huge old mansion. Ellen and Sam are preparing to marry when Ellen learns that her teenage brother and sister, George and Mandy, are to be released from the mental institution where they have been confined; as young children, they were the prime suspects in the brutal knife slaying of their sleeping parents, but it was never determined which of the two was responsible. Claiming that the youngsters were staying with an uncle who recently died, Ellen persuades the reluctant Mrs. Armstrong to allow them to move into the mansion. George and Mandy tell Ellen that they need a "mad room" where they can rid themselves of emotional hostilities, and Ellen secretly lets them use an attic study which Mrs. Armstrong has kept locked since her husband's death. Eventually, however, the widow learns about both the "mad room" and the children's past and demands that they leave. That night, Ellen finds Mrs. Armstrong hacked to death with one of her late husband's sabers. The children first suspect each other, but they finally realize that their sister, in her misguided attempts to shield them, committed both the present and the past murders. To cover up the crime, Ellen disposes of Mrs. Armstrong's corpse in a river and plants evidence indicating that the death was accidental. Unbeknown to Ellen, however, the family dog has carried off one of Mrs. Armstrong's severed hands. Ellen's mind totally snaps when she sees the animal carrying the hand, and Sam catches her as she is butchering the dog in the mansion basement.
Director
Bernard Girard
Cast
Stella Stevens
Shelley Winters
Skip Ward
Carol Cole
Severn Darden
Beverly Garland
Michael Burns
Barbara Sammeth
Lloyd Haynes
Jenifer Bishop
Gloria Manon
Lou Kane
Crew
Sidney Clifford
James Z. Flaster
Bernard Girard
Dave Grusin
Virginia Jones
Ben Lane
Sydney Z. Litwack
Moss Mabry
A. Z. Martin
Norman Maurer
Rusty Meek
Nazz
Arthur Piantadosi
Charles J. Rice
Pat Somerset
Harry Stradling Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes for the picture were filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Mad Room was remake of the 1941 Columbia release Ladies in Retirement, directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Spring April 1969
Remake of "Ladies in Retirement" (1941).
Released in United States Spring April 1969
